Oilers try to get playoff quest back on track in LA

(Sports Network) - The Edmonton Oilers knew that their season-high winning
streak wasn't going to last forever. The playoff hopefuls will try to rebound
on Saturday afternoon as they visit the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oilers potted 25 goals over five consecutive wins, including an impressive
8-2 win at Calgary on Wednesday. Their winning streak also included a shutout
win at home over Vancouver, but the Canucks got some revenge on Thursday with
their own 4-0 victory over Edmonton.

Nikolai Khabibulin gave up all four goals on 28 shots for the Oilers, who
scored all four of their goals last weekend versus the Canucks in the first
7:53 of the game to set a club record.

Taylor Hall had three of those goals and had logged 15 points over Edmonton's
previous six games before failing to log a point on Thursday despite four
shots.

"We just didn't seem to bring the energy to match their intensity," Oilers
coach Ralph Krueger admitted. "They came very hard and heavy. They were
extremely strong along the boards early in the game."

The loss did drop the Oilers out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference
and they now sit in a tie for ninth in the standings and three points back of
the final playoff spot.

Edmonton captain Shawn Horcoff knows that his club can't worry too much about
failing to extend its win streak.

"You're going to lose games," said Horcoff. "You're not going to win 17 in a
row to finish the season, right? We'll put it behind us. We know we have
better here and we have another bigger challenge coming up ahead of us now in
less than 48 hours here."

The Kings have six more points than the Oilers and are in the middle of the
playoff race. The defending Stanley Cup champions are currently fifth
overall in the West, one point ahead of Minnesota and one behind San Jose.

Los Angeles is 4-1-1 over its last six and is coming off Thursday's 3-0 win
over Minnesota. Justin Williams scored twice to extend his goal-scoring streak
to a career-high five straight games, while Jeff Carter also lit the lamp.

"When you see the puck go into the net, you feel more confident," Williams
said. "We knew that they played last night and we wanted to jump on them
early."

Jonathan Bernier posted 23 saves to notch his first shutout of the season and
sixth of his career. The backup to reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan
Quick has gone 9-0-0 in his 10 starts this season with a 1.50 goals against
average and .938 save percentage.

Defenseman Robyn Regehr, who the Kings acquired from the Sabres earlier this
week, posted an assist in his Los Angeles debut as well as six hits as the
Kings moved to 13-4-1 at home on the year.

The Kings have won three of their last four at home versus the Oilers and have
compiled an 11-1-6 mark in the past 18 meetings overall.